


run out of road

by lotts (LottieAnna)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Mitch misses his family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 04:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17615618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts
Summary: Mitch’s life hasn’t ever been particularly quiet, and the last 11 years, 5 months, and 28 days have been particularly loud.





	run out of road

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU FOUND THIS THROUGH GOOGLING, KNOW ANYONE MENTIONED IN THIS STORY PERSONALLY, OR ARE MENTIONED YOURSELF: please, please click away. This is a work of fiction and nothing written in this story is true. Any accurate information used in this story is publicly available information about public figures, the rest is made up, 100%.
> 
> thanks to ang for letting me chatfic this @ her because the idea wouldn't go away, and to maggie for reading it over SUPER fast and leaving cute comments!!! i love you both!!! i love you ALL!!!
> 
> i'm not a parent, but i have worked with kids of all ages and based a lot of these characters on those experience.

Mitch’s life hasn’t ever been particularly quiet, and the last 11 years, 5 months, and 28 days have been particularly loud. 

He doesn’t mind it, obviously, but he really thought that having one weekend of quiet would be a nice thing— maybe some time to regenerate before he’s thrown back into the chaos. He thinks this is the type of thing he’s supposed to want at this age, because he’s supposed to be slowing down, or something, but, like, it’s a Friday night, he’s curled up in his favorite blanket, and there’s a gentle flurry of snow falling outside. He’s got the fireplace going—a good fire, too, because Auston is usually the one who starts them, and he’s always looking up weird fireplace techniques that never actually work—and the season finale of some boyband show that Auston hates and Mitch loves to hate is playing on the TV. Mitch rarely gets command of the remote, because he is endlessly selfless and this is a five person household, so this should probably feel like a luxury. 

Mostly? It just sucks. 

They’d loaded up the car that morning and driven off after a lengthy negotiation about which snacks would be given front seat privileges, and Mitch had watched them all disappear into the distance with the flimsy excuse of needing to take Tina out for a walk. Even she’d known that something was off, because instead of barking as they drove away—a habit that no trainer has been able to break yet, so they’ve mostly given up—she’d just sat by Mitch’s side and looked up at him, all concerned. 

There’s probably no good reason he’s this fucked up about being alone in his house for five days. It’s just five days, and the reason he’s staying here in the first place is because he’s busy, but right now, it’s like his first night at his first Toronto apartment all over again— the place feels too big to be his own, except this time, it’s because it’s  _ not  _ his. It’s his family’s, and, like. Mitch really loves his family. 

The worst part of it is, that first night at his first grown-up place had turned into the first time he and Auston shared a bed, and that had eventually turned into, like, this, so it’s not exactly like Mitch has any helpful life lessons he can draw on. 

“Hey, Martina,” Mitch says, scratching her head. “Are you being such a pest because you miss the kids?” 

Martina presses her nose into his thigh a little harder. 

“And Auston too?”

She looks up at him with her big, sad eyes, which are mostly just big and sad because that’s what her dog face is like, but it still does the trick. 

“Yeah,” he says, kissing the top of her head. “Me too.”

……

It’s fucking freezing out, which Mitch knew when he got up from the couch, put on a jacket and boots, and walked into his backyard, but still, it’s cold enough that it bears repeating: it’s fucking  _ freezing  _ out. 

“This backyard is too big!” Mitch yells, because no one can hear him. “It’s way too big for one person!”

The night doesn’t say anything in response. 

…… 

Martina sniffs at the hardware store bags the next day as soon as Mitch walks through the door, then gives him a judgmental look. 

“Look, I’m a father of three,” Mitch says. “When we’re lonely, these things happen, okay?” 

It’s really not that big a deal— Mitch has extra time on his hands, and it’s cold, and they chose a house with a big backyard for a reason. The internet made it look easy enough, and Mitch takes that with a grain of salt, because he’s hardly handsy, but even if he messes something up, he figures he might as well get started. It feels like the right time, which is a rare feeling, when you have three kids. 

Auston FaceTimes him while he’s surveying the landscape of the backyard, and he debates rushing in to answer it, but decides it’s not worth it. 

“Hey there,” Mitch says, as Auston’s face fills the screen. 

“Hi,” Auston says. “I had a second, so I figured I’d check in.”

“You’ve been texting me all morning,” Mitch says.

“I wanted to check in on your face, and talk about things that don’t involve our daughter getting kicked out of every museum in America.”

“I dunno, that second topic sounds pretty entertaining.”

“Should we be taking this more seriously?” Auston asks. Mitch is pretty sure he’s in his hotel room. 

“It’s not like she’s a troublemaker,” Mitch says. “She doesn’t like art, she likes books, she’s 11. She’s bound to almost walk into a statue or two sometimes. As long as nothing’s broken, I think we’re fine.”

“The golden rule of parenting,” Auston says dryly. “How’s Marty?” 

“Oh, she’s great. Says my walks are way better than yours.”

“Didn’t we agree as a family that she doesn’t have favorites?”

“She likes our kids way better than she likes us,” Mitch says. “But she likes me more than you.”

“Harsh,” Auston says. “Is she in the yard with you?”

“Nah, you know how she gets in the cold,” Mitch says. 

“Not when you put the jacket on—”

“Dude, she hates that thing, and it doesn’t keep her warm,” Mitch says. “You’re the only one who wants her to wear it.”

“She always sits for pictures when she has it on,” Auston says.

“Because you bribe her with treats, which I am above doing.”

“It’s not bribery, she likes attention.”

“She’s a dog,” Mitch says. “She likes food and tummy rubs only. I’m not putting a dog in clothing, it’s weird.”

“Jojo gets worried about her getting hypothermia when she doesn’t wear it,” Auston says. 

“You’re actually awful.”

“I’m just saying.” He shrugs. “I think she’d like it if you sent a picture of her wearing the coat.”

“Right, sure,” Mitch says, rolling his eyes. “Because Jojo would like it.” 

……

Later, when Martina won’t go out for her last walk before bed and Mitch is starting to get frustrated with his own frustration, he relents and wrestles her into the stupid parka that Willy bought her, which made Mitch genuinely question their taste in godparents. 

She does seem fine once it’s on, even if getting to that point involves a lot of stern negotiation that would make their trainer proud, and she does sit still for a picture. 

Auston and the kids are probably already asleep, but Mitch likes knowing that it’ll be one of the first things they see in the morning. 

……

The next day, Mitch wakes up at sunrise, and he’s not sure who he is anymore. 

Lucas and Jojo steal Auston’s phone and call him while he’s driving, and Mitch very firmly reminds them that stealing is not okay, but also reminds him that he misses them very much. 

Once they get the phone back to Auston, Mitch starts to laugh so hard he has to pull over, and after they hang up, he comes weirdly close to crying. 

He wonders if they should get a walkie talkie set to use around the house. It might be a waste of money, but Mitch thinks it could be fun to pretend they’re a cool spy family.

……

It’s Ana’s half birthday the next day, and Mitch and Lucas are the only ones who remember. 

Ana couldn’t care less.

Lucas is a pretty quiet kid, but there are a few things that make him come alive, and, for whatever reason, half birthdays are one of them. A couple years back, he and Mitch mastered singing ‘Happy Birthday’ while alternating every other word, and that’s a skill that really only is useful on half birthdays, so. 

Jojo provides the ‘cha-cha-cha’s, Auston hums, and Ana crosses her arms and huffs, the front pieces of her hair fly up a little bit. She’s been doing this thing lately where she pretends to not like anything; sometimes, when she rolls her eyes, she looks exactly like Auston did when he was 18 and trying not to look amused by things. 

Mitch told his mom about it recently, and she said it’s a thing that happens with teenagers, which made Mitch realize that his eleven-and-a-half year old child—who was a toddler yesterday, he’s pretty sure—is going to be a teenager soon. It made him feel old, and, weirdly, sort of proud. 

“Can Ana drive yet?” asks Jojo when they’re done singing. 

Auston pats her on the shoulder. “Not for a few more years.”

“I’m never going to drive, cars are bad for the earth,” Ana says. 

“Isn’t using water also bad for the earth?” Lucas asks. “It steals the water from the ocean, and then the fish die.”

“Uh, well— sort of, but it’s a little more complicated,” Auston says.

“I have a question,” Jojo says. “Isn’t ice and water the same thing?”

“Ice is water, but cold,” Mitch says. “That’s why we have to dry off our skates when we’re done. They’re all wet.”

“But what about cold water?”

“It’s not as cold as ice,” Auston says, which Mitch is pretty sure is actually true. 

…… 

Mitch finds himself with an open afternoon the next day, so he walks in circles around his yard until his fingers feel numb. 

Auston and the kids are having a rough day, apparently, because Ana is angry and Lucas stepped on the back of Jojo’s shoe and then it broke and her socks got wet, and Auston’s not dealing with all of this alone, thank god, but still— Mitch loves his family, and he would like to fix all of their problems with his bare hands and hug them until everyone is feeling better, and the he wants to crawl into bed with his husband and let him know that he’s a great fucking dad, even if things feel hectic right now. 

But he can’t, so he just sends messages filled with emojis and lets Auston and the kids know that he’s here if they need to call, then circles the yard a few more times.

…… 

Martina is the first one to set foot on it. 

She slides around, looking absolutely delighted, and Mitch might be fucking freezing, but Auston and the kids are returning in a few hours, so he doesn’t particularly want to go inside and grab his skates. 

Whatever. He’s an adult. If he wants to launch himself across a patch of ice on his stomach like he’s a penguin, repeatedly, because he knows his dog will turn it into a race? That’s his prerogative. 

…… 

Jojo screams when she sees it. 

Mitch is very surprised, because he hadn’t realized they were home, and also, Jojo has never actually really liked to skate. 

“Daddy!” she says, her tiny frame pushing valiantly through the snow. In her coat with her hood up, mittens dangling from the sleeves, she looks like a little marshmallow. A very loud, very brightly colored marshmallow.  

“Hey, sweetie,” Mitch says, crouching down so she can properly launch herself into his arms. “Where’s the rest of the gang?” 

“Papa’s unpacking, he doesn’t know you’re out here,” Jojo says. “You made an ice rink!” 

“Yeah I did,” Mitch says, pressing a kiss to her head. “You wanna tell me how the trip was?” 

“You made an  _ ice rink!”  _ she says, frantically gesturing towards it. “Can we skate on it?”

“If you want to, yeah,” Mitch says. 

Her face lights up at that, which— Mitch and Auston agreed that it was okay if skating was never going to be Jojo’s favorite thing, and most of her reservations are about the rink being cold and crowded and not skating itself, but he can’t help but be happy to see her so excited about it right now. 

“Mitchy,” Auston’s voice calls from across the yard, and Mitch turns around to see him standing by the back entrance to the house. “You guys wanna come inside?” 

“You should come out here, Papa,” Jojo yells back. “Daddy made an ice rink!” 

“What—” Auston starts, but he’s cut off when Lucas walks up next to him. 

He tugs on Auston’s sleeve. “I don’t wanna unpack, I wanna see the ice rink.”

“So do I,” Auston says. He turns and yells into the house, “Ana, Dad’s out back, come say hi to him.” 

She presumably yells something back that Mitch can’t hear, and then Auston steps inside, presumably to talk to her. In the meantime, Lucas makes his way over.

“Hey there,” Mitch says, wrapping his free arm around Lucas as he presses himself against Mitch’s side. He’s small for his age, but Mitch is still amazed at how big he’s gotten. He’s pretty sure he’ll never stop. “How was the trip?” 

“Missed you,” Lucas says, his voice a little muffled. 

"Aw, you missed me?" Mitch says, and he knows it's dumb, but— look, being a parent is hard, alright, and Lucas has been having issues with the kids at school and he's been sort of angry lately and Mitch just really loves him and loves hearing that he loves him.

"We all missed you," Lucas says. 

"Yeah, and Papa really,  _ really _ missed you," Jojo chimes in.

Lucas and Jojo start to bicker over who missed Mitch most, and— look, as a general rule, Mitch tries not to cry in front of his kids, but they don't notice the small, happy tear rolling down his cheek. It’s really, really good to have them home, is all. 

Ana and Auston finally make it into the backyard, skates in hand, and Jojo and Lucas quickly detach from Mitch when they see them. 

“There she is,” Mitch says, giving Ana a hug as Jojo and Lucas jump on Auston and grab at the skates. “You guys have a good trip?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I’m tired, though.”

“If you’re tired, you can go inside and lie down,” Mitch says.

Ana scoffs. “Dad, please, you built an ice rink.”

“It’s safe to skate, right?” Auston says, even though the younger two are already sitting on the tarp Mitch had laid down earlier, lacing up.

Mitch nods. “I haven’t tested it yet, but it’s been cold for the last couple of days.”

“So it’s good to go,” Auston says, and they have the kind of wordless conversation they’ve perfected over the years, where Auston makes a face like,  _ should I go out there with them just to make sure?  _ and Mitch makes a face in response like,  _ nah, the rink is small, and I doubt they’re gonna be going too fast anyway,  _ and Auston makes a face like,  _ but Jojo’s still pretty shaky,  _ and Mitch makes a face like,  _ then I can go out there and walk her around, it’s not a big deal.  _

“Okay, guys, no pushing when you’re out there,” Mitch says, mostly talking to Jojo and Lucas. “And we’ll help you take off the skate guards when you’re done tying them.” He’ll probably have to re-tie them when they’re done, but Jojo gets upset about people trying to do things for her that she thinks she should be able to do herself, and she recently mastered tying her shoes, and anyway, Mitch is happy to have them focused on something else for a moment so he can get a moment to actually say hi to his husband. 

He walks over to Auston and presses a quick kiss to his mouth. “Hi,” he says softly.

“Hey there,” Auston says. “So this is what you do when we’re not here?”

“I guess so,” Mitch says, burying his face into Auston’s shoulder. “Please never leave again.”

“I’ll try my hardest,” Auston says.

Mitch lifts his head, spends a second looking at Auston’s face. It looks the same as it always has, which means it’s still Mitch’s favorite face in the world, and he still loves it very much. 

“It's way too quiet when you're not here," he says. 

"Too quiet," Auston repeats. "I don't think I can even imagine something being too quiet anymore." 

"Trust me, it's possible.”

Auston squeezes him once, then presses a grossly fond kiss to his head— which, okay, they're married and have kids and shit, Mitch doesn't get why Auston’s still like this, except for how he totally does, and is not complaining at all about it.

"I heard you missed me," Mitch says. 

Auston chuckles a little, his breath warm on Mitch’s cheek. “Who told?”

"Who do you think," Mitch says, nodding in Jojo’s direction. "I probably could've guessed on my own." 

"It's not exactly a secret that I kinda like you, or whatever.”

"Or whatever," Mitch teases, and that gets Auston to lean in to kiss him again, square on the mouth, softer than the ‘hello’ peck from before. It’s the kind of kiss that Mitch has to cut off, because his children are here, and he's all for showing affection and stuff, but he draws the line at a makeout session in the presence of children. It’s not an easy line to draw, but he’ll draw it.

Instead, Mitch peeks at the kids, who have, predictably, gotten sidetracked. They’re not arguing, so Mitch figures they can stay distracted. 

"So, after the kids are asleep…" Auston says.

Mitch turns back to him, wags his eyebrows. “What were you thinking?" 

Auston doesn’t say anything, just gives him a look, and Mitch has been married to this man for about a million years, so he immediately knows exactly what that look means. 

“No,” he says automatically. "It's too loud. We’ll wake them up." 

"It’s been so long though," Auston says, doing this weird sort of whining thing that Mitch is pretty sure Auston picked up from him, or maybe the kids. 

It’s actually a terrible tactic, because Mitch is far more immune to whining than Auston is.

“I made this for the kids, not so you could shoot pucks at midnight,” Mitch says, firm.

Auston persists. "Come on, a little one-on-one, get our legs moving." 

"We're grown-ups now, Matts. We need to be responsible." 

"If you wanted me to be responsible, you shouldn't have built a rink in our backyard," Auston says. "Come on, Mitchy, you know you want to." 

Mitch doesn't say anything in response, but, reluctantly, he smiles, because it's not like Auston's wrong, but that’s a conversation for later, because right now, Jojo is looking angrily at her feet, and Lucas is saying something, and Ana is a few seconds away from being ready to head out on the ice.

“We’ll see,” Mitch says softly, and then, to the kids, “Alright, guys, how are we doing?”

The next few minutes are predictably chaotic, but Mitch wouldn’t really expect anything less. 

**Author's Note:**

> in case ur wondering about the dog name: Martina is the name of the leafs anthem singer and I like to think that she has a semi-successful music career and their oldest daughter is really excited that her dads know her!! And she insists they name their dog after her, except then they realize that Marty is the most plausible nickname and then human-Marty laughs for about a billion years
> 
> "why are auston and the kids away" i think it was some like. extended family vacation? so auston couldn't get out of it and his parents wanted to see their grandkids, but something came up for mitch so he couldn't go.


End file.
